I felt a nervous energy buzzing around the periphery of my senses, and I smiled excitedly as I drove along. I trailed behind my husband as we drove out of town to trade in our two vehicles for a single one that would more readily serve our upcoming needs. I was happy, anxious, joyful, and jittery, all at the same time. Being a grown-up was crazy, right?
As we motored along my eyes drifted to the left side of the road, and I smiled at a familiar outdoor mall. And by familiar I mean I had visited there in the last decade. Maybe. Any outings beyond family ones were rare, and I realized I hadn’t visited this particular shopping spot in eleven years, actually! I then fondly recalled my husband taking me there for a date on my thirtieth Birthday.
It had been early August, a blazing hot end of summer, and after walking around outside we had stopped at a restaurant’s bar for a cool drink. If I thought about it I could still remember the pale ale we had, complete with an orange slice on the rim.
I could use a drink right now, I thought.
Having a cold beer on a hot day was almost as American as apple pie. It was a common accompaniment to Super Bowl, and I enjoyed many an outdoor, professional baseball game with a cool brew in hand.
Tired, overworked medical professionals would unwind after a difficult shift with a nice, stiff drink, and some physicians and nurses I worked alongside had recently joked about just that.